Vehicle luggage compartment door operator



July 4, 194 J. D. WORGESS VEHICLE LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT DOOR OPERATORFiled May '26, 1942 s e W 2 m J Patented July 4, 1944 VEHICLE LUGGAGEOOMPABTMENT DOOR OPERATOR John D. Worgess, Jacksonville, Fla.Application May 26, 1942, Serial No. 444,587

4Claims.

This invention relates generally to the class of vehicles and pertainsparticularly to improvements in actuators for the doors of rear truckcompartments of motor vehicles.

In motor vehicles of the sedan type there is customarily provided atrunk or luggage compartment in the rear behind the rear seat, which isprovided with a cover or door which swings upwardly when being opened.Ordinarily it is a matter of slight inconvenience for the operator of avehicle or a passenger to leave the vehicle and go to the rear to openthe compartment door when it is required that access be had to theinterior of the compartment but, at the present time, when many vehicledrivers have their places of employment in restricted areas or guardedareas it is very inconvenient and time consuming for the operator of thevehicle to leave the same and go to the rear to open the compartmentwhen entering and leaving such areas, to allow the compartment to beinspected by guards, and when it is considered that many thousands ofsuch vehicles enter and leave such areas every day, it will beappreciated that much time is consumed in this procedure and diflicultyis encountered in keeping the vehicular traflic moving rapidly.

In view of the foregoing it is an object of the present invention toprovide a novel means whereby the occupant of a motor vehicle which isequipped with a rear luggage carrier, may easily and quickly effect theopening and closing of the door or cover for such compartment withoutleaving the vehicle and, consequently, when the vehicle is one amongmany others which have to stop at an inspection station when leaving orentering a restricted or guarded area, the saving in time resulting fromthe employment of the present mechanism makes it possible to keepvehicles equipped with the same moving more rapidly past such a station.

Another object of the invention is to provide a vehicle luggagecompartment door actuating means which is controlled from the motorvehicle engine by the employment of the pressure of the products ofcombustion discharged from the vehicle engine cylinders into the exhaustmanifold.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a mechanism of theabove described character, a novel construction wherein the luggagecompartment door will be unlocked or released simultaneously with thethrowing into operation of the pressure apparatus which forces the doorto swing to open position.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, it being understood, however, that the invention is not to beconsidered as limited by the specific illustration or description butthat such illustration and description constitute a preferred embodimentof the invention. v

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the application of thepresent invention to a motor vehicle, parts of the diagrammed structurebeing in section;

Figure 2 is adetailed view of the pet-cock coupling the exhaust manifoldwith the piston cylinder pipe;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 2 Figure 4 is adetailed section on an enlarged scale of the trunk compartment dooractuating linkage;

Figure 5 is a detailed sectional view on an enlarged scale of theforward end of the cable tube. V

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, there is illustrated bydotted or broken lines the outline of a motor vehicle indicatedgenerally by the character V, wherein such portions of the structure asare necessary for e. proper description and illustration of theapplication of the present invention, are shown in full lines.

In accordance with the present invention there is connected between theinstrument panel ill of the vehicle and the dashboard H, a flexible tubeor conduit I! which, at the forward end, beneath the hood of thevehicle, is divided to provide the two branches l3 and It.

Extending throughthe conduit I2 is a flexible pull wire I5 upon theforward end of which 'is secured a pull button l6 which is located infront of thepanel 10 where it may be easily grasped by the vehicleoperator or an occupant of the front seat of the vehicle. The forwardend of the cable or wire l5 has joined thereto.

an end of each of two pull wires l1 and [8, the wire I! passing throughthe branch ll of the conduit, while the wire I! passes through thebranch 13, as illustrated.

The numeral l9 designates the exhaust maniil fold for the vehicleengine. This is provided with a suitable tapmd opening" in which isthreadably secured a pet cock 2| having th branch arm 22 and theoperating stem 22 which is under the control of the lever or handle 24.To this lever or handle 24 the'other end of the wire I! is connected. Aspring 22 i secured to the pet cock and connected with the lever 24 andnormally urges the turning of the lever and the stem 22 to a positionwhere the rotary plug 22 of the cock establishes communication betweenthe branch 22 and an exhaust opening 21 which is formed through the sideof the housing of the cock. When the lever or handle 24 is pulledrearwardly, as by the application of a rearward pull to the wire It, theplug 22 will be turned to a position to establish communication betweenthe branch 22 of the cock and the interior of the exhaust manifold It.The pet cock will then 'be in the turned-on position, whereby the flowof exhaust gases under pressure may pass from the exhaust manifoldthrough the outlet'branch 22 of the cock into the pipe line 28 which isconnected at one end with the outlet of the cock.

The pull cable or wire I! is run or extended to the rear of the vehicle,being passed over shitable pulleys 29 so that it may be worked withmaximum ease or smoothness, and this wire passes along the inner side ofthe door or cover of the luggage or trunk compartment 2| of the vehicle.This door 22 is hingedly mounted in the customary manner, at its topedge, as indicated at 22, so as to swing upwardly upon a horizontalpivot or axis. The lock or latch for the door 221s indicated generallyby the numeral 22, and the bolt 23' thereof has a suitable hole drilledtherein to receive the end of the actuating wire I1 which is secured tothe bolt or a screw, or in any other suitable means, so that when a pullis applied to the button it the bolt will be retracted through theactuation of the wire i1. Supported in a suitable manner beneath thefloor 24 of the luggage compartment 2| is a piston cylinder 25 with thelower end of which the pipe 28 communicates. Within this cylinder is apiston 26 having a stem 21 which extends upwardly, in the rear portionof th compartment, and is pivotally connected at its upper end with arock arm 28 which, in turn, is pivotally mounted intermediate its endsupon a suitable bracket 28 secured in the top of the compartment.

Secured to the inner side of the door 20, near the top or pivoted edgethereof, is a rigid arm 40 which extends inwardly and upwardly and ispivotally coupled at its inner end with the adjacent end of the rock arm28, by the link ll.

In the operation of the present mechanism, the operator of the vehicleor an occupant of the front seat pulls back upon the button It, thuspulling the wires l1 and It. The wire I! will actuate the pet cock 2| toallow the gases under pressure to issue from the exhaust manifold l2 andpass rearwardly through the pipe 28 to the piston cylinder 26, and thewire II when pulled will retract the lock bolt 24 so as to unlock'thecompartment door. The gases entering the cylinder 2I will force thepiston 20 and piston rod 21 upwardly to rock the bar 22 so as to exert adownward thrust upon the arm ",thereby causing the door to swingoutwardly and upwardly to opened position.

When the wire I2 is pulled to oscillate the'ler ver 24, the spring 28will be tensioned and, consequently, when the button it is released andpushed in the spring will reversely turn the stem 23 so as to restorethe plug 22 to exhaust position, wherein the pipe line a will be put mmcommunication with the exhaust opening 21, thus allowing the gases to beforced back through the pipe and to the atmosphere, this beingaccomplished by the weight of the door actuating the piston 22 throughthe medium of the bar 22 and other mechanism connecting the piston rodwith the door. Thus, it will be readily seen that the vehicle operatorcan effect the opening and closing of the lugg e compartment door orcover without having to leave his seat.

The mechanism will be so arranged and ad- Justed that the door will beopened a sufficient distance to enable an inspector or guard to lookinto the luggage compartment, but not far enough to cause the catchesfor the door to set in a position to lock or secure the door open.

I claim:

1. In a motor vehicle having a luggage compartment provided with anupwardly swinging door, and an engine,. means for effecting the openingof said door from the front part of the vehicle, comprising an armconnected with the inner side of the door, an oscillatably mountedthrust bar operatively coupled with said arm, a

power piston operatively coupled with said bar to effect oscillation ofthe same, a connection between the power piston and said engine foreffecting the transmission of exhaust gases under pressure to the underside of said piston and the actuation of the latter for the opening ofthe door, a valve interposed in the line for controlling the flowtherethrough, automatic means for moving the valve and maintaining thesame in a position to close flow through the connection to the powerpiston, and manual means for moving the valve in position to open theconnection between the power piston and engine.

2. In a motor vehicle having a luggage compartment provided with apivoted door and an engine having an exhaust manifold, means foreffecting the opening of said door comprising a thrust arm secured tothe door upon the inner side thereof, a piston cylinder and a pistonwithin the cylinder, said piston having a rod connected therewith, saidpiston rod extending into the compartment, a linkage connection betweensaid piston rod and said arm whereby movement of the piston and pistonrod in one direction will effect the oscillation of the door to openedposition, a vent cock operatively coupled with said manifold to take of!gases under pressure therefrom, a pipe line connected between said ventcock and said piston cylinder, automatic means for normally closing theflow through the pipe line to the cylinder, and manual means operativelyconnected with the vent cock to facilitate opening the latter from thefront part of the vehicle for the transmission of gases under pressureto the cylinder and the actuation of said piston in the said onedirection.

3. In a motor vehicle having a luggage compartment provided with anupwardly swinging door and an engine, means for effecting the opening ofsaid door from the front part of the vehicle, comprising an armconnected with the inner side of the door, an oscillatably mountedthrust bar operatively coupled with said arm, a power piston operativelycoupled with said bar to effect oscillation of the same, a connectionbetween the power piston and said engine for effecting the transmissionof exhaust gases under pressure to the under side of said piston and theactuation of the latter for the opening of the door, a valve interposedin the line for controlling the flow therethrough, automatic means formoving the valve and maintaining the same in a position to close flowthrough the connection to the power piston, and manual means for movingthe valve in, position to open the connection between the power pistonand engine, said connection having an exhaust opening, the valve closingsaid exhaust opening when the valve is in its first named position andopening the exhaust opening when the valve is in its second position. i

4. In a motor vehicle having a lugg e compartment including a top wall,a bottom wall and a pivoted door, a rock arm within the compartment andpi'votally supported by the top wall, a thrust arm carried by the doorand extending inwardly of the compartment, 9. link operativelyconnecting the thrust arm with the rock arm, a cylinder below andsuspended from the bottom wall of the compartment, a piston workingtherein, a piston rod associated with the; piston and extending upwardlyinto the compartment throughthe bottom wall, said rod being operativelyconnected with the, rock arm whereby movement of the piston in onedirection will ef- Iect opening movement of the door, an engine carriedby the vehicle having an exhaust manifold, and a connection between themanifold and the cylinder for transmission 01' exhaust gases underpressure to move the piston in a direction to open the door.

JOHN D. WORGESS.

